GLOBAL MARCH FOR PEACE AND UNITY

PURPOSE: This is a grassroots effort to organize a peaceful global march for peace & unity on the International Day of Peace – Saturday, September 21, 2013. This occurs concurrently with the Observation of the International Day of Peace, a day that the United Nations calls on all combatants around the world to lay down their arms and to give peace a real chance; a day to reflect and consider how best to break the vicious cycle of violence that conflict creates.

OUR MISSION: To demonstrate to the world and its leaders, that any attempts to segregate us by fear because of our diversities will not succeed. Worldwide, people aspire to focus on a mutual peaceful existence. All people of the world abundantly understand that we can coexist on this planet without any need for violence in resolving seemingly superficial disputes across artificial ‘man-made’ boundaries. This movement has emerged out of a sense of responsibility we all share to leave a better world for our children. We aim to inspire all of humanity to unite for this day to clearly and publicly demonstrate that the world can and must respect each other’s differences and stand together united in peace, for humanity, our earth and the future.

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Here is what we have accomplished so far:

We have reached out and established Facebook pages in over 50 countries. Each page is administered by activists in those countries which have experience hosting marches for Peace. Each page then requests other activists in their country to help organize events at the city level. Each worldwide city event will then have its own Facebook page. Each city will have at least 2-3 “City Contacts” that will post vital information received from headquarters.

City Contacts that have questions such as, “What permits do I need?” can post the question to the Facebook page of their country, therefore, all cities in that country can see the questions and answers and respond with suggested solutions. If a question cannot be resolved within that country, the global administrators can then post the question worldwide. This network provides an environment that allows everyone with access to Facebook to post a question, and that is then one message away from receiving global support.

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In the rest of this description we will try to answer all questions and provide all the necessary information for you to take part in this event at any level. It is a constant work in progress that will be updated frequently. If you feel this needs to be edited in any way or you would like to submit helpful information, please send a message to the page. (Host of this event)

1. How to best use this page as a tool of communication.
This event page is the best place for you to meet, communicate and organize with the people in your community who are going to this event. Feel free to discuss exact locations, what permits need to be obtained, what local organizations, NGO’s, NPO’s or public figures might be interested in participating, etc, simply by posting to the wall. If your community grows very large, we would recommend and encourage the people most involved with organizing the event to create a Facebook group. If you feel the description of this event needs to be edited in any way such as including the exact location, please either send us a message or leave a comment on the wall of your country’s page. (host of this event)
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2. Here are some good ways to help spread the word in your community.

The first thing you can do is either click the “join”, or “maybe” button located under the cover photo of this event. This will then give you the option to invite your friends directly. Simply click the “invite friends” button and individually click on the friends in your community that you want to invite.

This is your link.

https://www.facebook.com/events/134224516761798/

^^^This^^^ is your most important tool for spreading the word in your community. Make sure to copy and save it in your notes on both your computer and your mobile device.

There are several things you can do with this link.

1. Copy and paste it to emails, text messages, Twitter, Reddit, Youtube comments, just about anywhere you can think of.
2. You can also copy and paste the link to the walls of FB pages located in your city (universities, occupy movements, environmental causes, anonymous groups, equal rights causes, veterans for peace pages, local news stations, etc..) It is also best to leave a little personal message along with the link, like, “Isn’t this something we can all stand behind?”
3. You can also take it a step further and send personal messages to friends, public figures, and
even pages if you would like to establish a more personal connection. This tactic has worked very well for us. We will periodically update this event page with good examples of outreach messages that you can use to send to local organizations in your community.
4. If you know people that live in other cities, you can go to that event, click “maybe” and then it will let you invite people you know in that area.

Becoming a City Contact is as simple as sending your country’s page (the host of this event) a message saying what city you live in and that you would like to be a City Contact.. After a quick review, you will be added to the “Facebook GMPU City Contact Group”. There you will receive vital information, news, messages, inspirational material and tools needed for your community to host an event. Your only task will be to simply copy the messages from the “Facebook City Contact Group” and post it here on the wall, where the whole community can see and discuss how to implement these strategies. You can also elect to become an “Event Host” where you can update the page description directly, pin important posts and even maintain a checklist of completed objectives.

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4. Here are some examples of different types of events to organize.

September 21st is known as The International Day of Peace, also called Peace Day. Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day. Millions of people in all countries do. It can be as simple as lighting a candle at noon, or just sitting in silent meditation. Or it can involve getting your friends, family, organization, community, or government engaged in a large event. The impact of millions of people in all parts of the world coming together for one day of peace is immense.

Our goal is to help lay out the plans for and provide all the information needed to host 3 different types of events.

Level 1. A small gathering – simply inviting all who want to light a candle, hold a sign, or sing a song at their local town or city hall. If your event grows to over 200 people, we would recommend to at least contact your local mayor’s office.

Level 2. A large gathering sanctioned by the city to include closing of streets if necessary, allowance of a P.A. system, etc.. Specific information as to what offices will need to be contacted will be updated below.

If you would like to update this information, send us a message.

Level 3. Organize a march sanctioned by the city to include, possibly, multiple streets to be closed off, allowance of a P.A. system etc… Specific information as to what offices will need to be contacted will be updated below.

If you would like to update this information, send us a message.

For good information, do a Google search for “(your town/city) Special Events Handbook” usually provided by your local Leisure Services Department.

One thing that may help you win the support of your local city hall is to find out if they are a member of the NGO “Mayors for Peace”… Check to see if your city is part of the “Mayors for Peace”:http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/
click on “member cities”:http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/membercity/map.html
If your city is a member, then you can point out that Mayors for Peace is behind the “International Day of Peace” and the Mayor should be Behind this movement…
Rotary Clubs also support the cause.

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The time has come – let’s rally for peace and unity!!!! If you would like to help organize – please message us.

“Great acts are made up of small deeds”
~Lau Tzu

“Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr

“Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking.”
~Mahatma Gandhi

If you have been invited to this event but it is not in your city or country, please go here